## Facts

- A Virginia Tech freshman alleged that two male students (football players) raped her in a dormitory room in September 1994.
- She pursued university disciplinary proceedings; the university initially suspended one accused student for two semesters but later rescinded the suspension and imposed lesser discipline under a different code provision.
- She alleged the university’s response was ineffective, permitting a sexually hostile educational environment and denying her equal educational opportunities.
- She filed federal claims seeking damages:
  - Against the individual defendants under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) civil-remedy provision, 42 U.S.C. § 13981, alleging a crime of violence motivated by gender.
  - Against Virginia Tech under Title IX, 20 U.S.C. § 1681, alleging deliberate indifference to known sexual assault/harassment in a federally funded education program.

## Issues

1. Whether the complaint stated a Title IX claim against a federally funded university based on alleged deliberate indifference to known student-on-student sexual assault/harassment creating a hostile educational environment.
2. Whether Congress had power under the Commerce Clause to enact VAWA’s civil remedy, 42 U.S.C. § 13981, authorizing suits for gender-motivated violence.
3. Whether VAWA’s civil remedy could alternatively be sustained under § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment against private actors.

## Decision

- The court reversed the district court’s dismissal of the Title IX claim and remanded.
- The court reversed the district court’s ruling that VAWA § 13981 was unconstitutional and remanded for further proceedings on the VAWA claim.
- The panel concluded the Commerce Clause supplied constitutional authority for § 13981; it discussed § 5 but treated the Commerce Clause as the principal ground.

## Legal Principles

- Severe sexual harassment, including sexual assault, can constitute discrimination “on the basis of sex” under Title IX when it denies equal access to educational benefits.
- A Title IX damages claim may be stated where a funding recipient has actual knowledge of sexual harassment/assault and responds with deliberate indifference, permitting a hostile educational environment to persist.
- On a motion to dismiss, allegations of known, severe assault and an allegedly inadequate institutional response can be sufficient to plead deliberate indifference.
- Congress may regulate intrastate conduct under the Commerce Clause when it concludes, supported by legislative findings, that the class of conduct substantially affects interstate commerce in the aggregate.
- VAWA’s civil remedy was treated as a civil supplemental remedy targeting gender-motivated violence’s aggregate economic effects, rather than a direct displacement of state criminal law.

## Conclusion

The Fourth Circuit panel held that the student plausibly alleged Title IX liability based on the university’s deliberate indifference to known sexual assault and upheld VAWA’s civil-remedy provision as a valid exercise of Congress’s Commerce Clause power, reversing the district court and remanding both claims for further proceedings.


Brzonkala v. Va. Polytechnic Inst. & State Univ., 132 F.3d 949 (4th Cir. 1997)